


Knockin' On Heaven's Door

by murphysarc



Series: iPod Shuffle Challenge [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-05
Updated: 2013-11-05
Packaged: 2017-12-31 13:53:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1032454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murphysarc/pseuds/murphysarc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Momma, put my guns in the ground,<br/>I can't shoot them anymore.<br/>That long black cloud is coming down,<br/>Feels like I'm knockin' on heaven's door..."</p><p>(Sally's had enough of the war that Percy ran into head first.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Song: “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” -the cover version by Avril Lavigne. Original by Bob Dylan (am I correct?)

She thinks the worst part is not being able to see him, not even in the state he was now. She just wants closure, the ability to say goodbye, but even that has been taken away from her.  
So she stands, staring at the empty grave that really shouldn’t be empty because it tore a hole in her heart, and the emotions it stole had to go somewhere.  
The message on the grave is so full of bull, too. “Here lies Percy Jackson who gave his life to save many.”  
No, she screams. No, he didn’t, because it was an accident! You told me it was an unfortunate accident! He didn’t save lives, he’s wrecking mine…  
But then she knows she can’t feel that way because he’s her son, her freaking son, who blew up in a bomb somewhere in Afghanistan and they can’t even find a body because no one was there to help him.  
No one was ever there to help him. She tried, she really did, but Percy just never seemed to fit in and she wishes now that she could’ve showed him that he did, he does, he always will…  
But he’s dead, and she’s alone, and there’s nothing she can do about it.  
So she simply lays her flowers down on the gravesite, turns around, and begins to leave.  
But suddenly something’s pulling her jacket and she slowly turns around to see a tiny boy staring up at her, wonder filling his eyes.  
“Hello, miss,” he squeaks, and she just stares at him, wondering what he wants because she’s never even seen him before. “Do you know him?”  
The boy points to a grave, to Percy’s grave. If this was an adult she’d smack him, but it’s just a child and children don’t think before they act. So all she says is, “Yes. Yes, he’s…he was my son.”  
“One day,” the boy says, “I’m gonna grow up to be big and tall, and then, I’ll join the army and I’ll be a hero.”  
Her eyes widen and she steps back a little as she listens to him talk. Oblivious the boy continues, “But I won’t end up here. I’ll show the…the…tewwowists.” She knows he’s saying “terrorists” but she doesn’t correct him.  
In fact, she’s not even sure what she’s doing until she’s leaning down next to him and whispering, “That’s not the way to do it. The way to help everyone here is to not go, to show that we don’t need an army. To show that war must, in fact, end, because if it does than this place won’t even need to exist, right?”  
The boy nods, like he understands, but she knows he doesn’t. He’s just a kid who doesn’t know any better. She’s not even sure why she’s trying.  
But then, she is sure.  
“So don’t go,” she finishes. “One day, when you’re big and tall, you’ll have a lovely wife and maybe some kids of your own. And your mother won’t want you to go, because what if you don’t come back? You don’t want her to miss you, do you?”  
He shakes his head and then suddenly he’s running across the yard, yelling “Mommy!” again and again until his voice fades and she stands up, sighing.  
Maybe she couldn’t save Percy. Maybe there’s nothing she can do anymore but grieve and wish and maybe even hope.  
But she can at least make sure that that little boy doesn’t have the same fate.  
Because Sally Jackson is strong.  
And she won’t let death beat her, not just yet.


End file.
